The 2018 RBC Canadian Swimming Championships get underway Thursday at the Olympic Park Sport Centre in Montreal.

Top Canadian junior swimmers will race to make the National Development Team, as they compete against a number of swimmers with senior national team experience. The field includes Mackenzie Padington, Richard Funk, Javier Acevedo, Olympic medallists Katerine Savard and Sandrine Mainville, and World medallist Sydney Pickrem.

The four-day meet runs through Sunday. Performances at these championships will stand as qualifying times for selection to the National Development Team for the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships and Youth Olympic Games.

Coming off a gold medal at the Indianapolis 2017 FINA World Junior Championships, Gabe Mastromatteo will be looking to keep the momentum going from last year. Joshua Liendo, the winner of the Jeno Tihanyi Bursary for his outstanding performance at the Winnipeg 2017 Canada Games, will also be racing for a spot on the team.

The 2018 Canadian Swimming Championships is a fully integrated meet that will include Para-swimming.

Paralympic medallists Nicolas-Guy Turbide and Paralympian James Leroux are expected to be in action.

A total of 484 athletes from 130 clubs will be attending the event and 10 provinces and 3 countries will be represented.